Heightened Immune Activation in Fetuses with Gastroschisis May Be Blocked by Targeting IL-5.

The development of the fetal immune system during pregnancy is a well-orchestrated process with important consequences for fetal and neonatal health, but prenatal factors that affect immune activation are poorly understood. We hypothesized that chronic fetal inflammation may lead to alterations in development of the fetal immune system. To test this hypothesis, we examined neonates with gastroschisis, a congenital abdominal wall defect that leads to exposure of the fetal intestines to amniotic fluid, with resultant intestinal inflammation.

The many faces of hydrops.

Purpose: Fetal hydrops arises from multiple disease processes and can portend a grim prognosis. We reviewed our experience with hydropic fetuses to understand relevant antenatal anatomic and physiologic predictors of survival.

Methods: We reviewed fetal ultrasounds and echocardiograms of hydropic fetuses evaluated from 1996 to 2013.

Fetal production of growth factors and inflammatory mediators predicts pulmonary hypertension in congenital diaphragmatic hernia.

Background: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) represents a spectrum of lung hypoplasia, and consequent pulmonary hypertension (PH) is an important cause of postnatal morbidity and mortality. We studied biomarkers at the maternal-fetal interface to understand factors associated with the persistence of PH.

Methods: Maternal and cord blood samples from fetuses with CDH and unaffected controls were analyzed using a human 39plex immunoassay kit.

Maternal microchimerism in patients with biliary atresia: Implications for allograft tolerance.

Maternal-fetal cellular trafficking during pregnancy results in bidirectional microchimerism with potentially long-term consequences for the mother and her fetus. Exposure of the fetus to maternal cells results in tolerance to non-inherited maternal antigens (NIMA) and may therefore impact transplant outcomes. We investigated the rates of graft failure and retransplantation after parental liver transplantation in pediatric recipients with biliary atresia (BA), a disease with high levels of maternal microchimerism.